Growing Like Bamboo

New Delhi's deregulation will help India's bamboo industry, and many more such informal businesses.

Updated Feb. 1, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

Is bamboo a tree or a grass? It may be a pedantic question, but the answer will shape the future of millions of poor Indians.

The Indian government decided last month to classify bamboo as a grass, in one fell swoop deregulating the bamboo-products industry, currently producing anywhere between 53 and 100 billion rupees ($1.15-2.2 billion) a year. As long as the plant was defined as a tree, it fell under a state monopoly; only the...